How will Latin American countries fare economically by illegal immigration? (illegal immigrants, Mexican)

[What!]

This forum constantly talks about the effects of illegal immigration in America, but what will happen to the home countries of these immigrants (Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, etc.)? I think illegal immigration will have a worse effect in the home countries of illegals than the U.S. will have. Here are some points I'd like to bring up:

1. The risks involved with immigration to the United States are harsh. You can either see the video about Mexican illegal immigration (
YouTube - Mexico KILLS its Illegal Aliens while saying how "bad we are ) or you can read the transcribed article ( http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/060815a.aspx ). If an illegal alien is caught in Mexico the best he can hope for is deportation. The worst that will happen is robbery, rape, torture, and murder. I once read an article about how a woman and her daughter paid to get to the United States, only to find out the men she paid were pimps looking to sell her and her daughter into sex slavery. Luckily, she was saved. I wish I had the article to show but I don't. The point is that Mexico's human rights violations are going up all the time, and this is helped by the things they do to the illegals in their own country. Not only that, the biggest human rights violation these Latin American countries have is the inability to give their own citizens a better life. If the government cannot provide for its citizens then that is the greatest human right violation of all: the reality that I do not have a great economic future in my own country is harsh.

2. People marching in someone else's countries for basic rights, amnesty, and citizenship is sad. It is even sadder when they number in the millions. I don't know about you, but if I found myself marching thru the streets of America, waving flags, and shouting reasons why I was a "hard worker who is essential to the American economy", while my own country is slowly and surely going down the crapper I'd feel like the definition of a *******! Even worse, if I was a government official from the mother country of these immigrants I'd feel like a bigger *******; a worthless ******* who is wasting time and tax money by his inability to do something for millions of his citizens.

3. Helping out smugglers is wrong. These people are being paid for human trafficking, and the are basically selling them to the United States. The underground economy is doing well because of the thousands that try to get to America every day.

4. Agriculture is ruined; not only at the border but also throughout Mexico. It has been stated that illegal immigrants ruin agriculture at the border, but they also ruin much of Mexico because a good deal of immigrants come from southern Mexico or countries south of Mexico. During the long hike they litter, kill animals, and do not respect the environment because they have no intention of staying there. It is hazardous to the wildlife.

5. Little money is sent back to Latin American countries. Illegals work in jobs ranging from low-pay in the service industry to as high as $14 per hour or more in the labor industry. Let's say the average illegal gets $300 a week. That is $1,200 a month. Subtract the cost of food, shelter, transportation, clothing, phone bills, and a whole lot of other things (including the cost to send the money back home), it is doubtful there is a lot of money being sent to help these families back home, despite what the pro-illegal crowds say.

6. Nothing is being done to help the people there. We keep seeing commercials in America showing some old guy holding a shirtless kid saying, "This is Pablito, he lives alone in a dirty shack. You can help Pablito but you probably won't. You say it by leaving the room, you say it by, changing the channel, you say it by not making the call". If we grant citizenship to 30 million people, what will happen to Pablito?

7. Illegal immigrants have to live on the margins of U.S. society. I recently found out that many don't communicate with Americans too much for fear of being found out. They generally keep to themselves and sympathizers because they don't want to be caught as being here illegally. So they live away from mainstream American society and develop their own communities, and usually these communities are very rundown with little hope for improvement.

8. The economic future for some Latin Americans in their home country is bleak. Many look around and see that they do not have a future in their own country and cannot hope to rise up socially and economically so they head to the United States. Take a time to think about it for a second: the idea that you have no future in your own country so you must leave your country entirely and try to find life in the U.S. is sad. It gets even sadder when you think about the fact that they only get menial jobs and smaller pay than the average American. Few of the immigrants move up from their low positions in America.

9. These Latin American countries let their people go because they believe it is better to try to manage a smaller population. But they are not doing anything to better the lives of the ones that are left behind. So nothing is being done.

10. Lastly, if we give citizenship to the 30 million, what will happen to the millions more still living in poverty back home? Millions more still lose out because their governments are not helping them and their fellow citizens are not helping them. By the fact that these illegals are leaving their countries, trying to secure amnesty or legality, and trying to become citizens it would show that it is wholesale abandonment of their countries, not mere immigration. They are saying, "See ya, Pablito, wouldn't want to be ya, chico". Citizenship to the 30 million neglects to address the needs of the millions more left behind. There is little organization to help the economic future of these countries to at least make it look bearable and give the citizens hope. Thus, in the long run, though they do not want to admit it, Mexico and other Latin American countries lose big time. AND THE PROBLEM IS NOT SOLVED, IT GETS WORSE!

Any comments by anyone, all comments welcome.

[Benicar]

You have made many good points. I agree with most of your post, with the exception of #5. In particular, remittances sent to Mexico account for a HUGE percentage of their annual revenue, second only to oil -- which is precisely the impetus for the incessant meddling in OUR immigration policies by the Mexican government. Thanks for underscoring their utter hypocrisy.

We have more than enough poverty in this country. As much as I feel compassion for those suffering throughout the world, I believe we need to concentrate on our declining middle-class and problems Americans encounter on a daily basis; of which IMO illegal immigration is paramount.

It may sound callous, but we are not in the position to save Latin America, or any other region of the world. It’s time for them to take care of their own people, and to stop sending them to us. They are not our responsibility.

[madicarus2000]

Originally Posted by What!

This forum constantly talks about the effects of illegal immigration in America,

Because this forum is about US immigration issues, not Latin America issues.
Thread closed.